The Difference Between Isolation Gowns, Protective Clothing and Surgical Gowns

Function

Disposable isolation gowns: protective equipment used by medical staff to avoid contamination by blood, body fluids, and other infectious substances, or to protect patients from infection. Isolation gowns prevent both medical staff from being infected or contaminated and patients from being infected, and are two-way isolation.

Disposable protective clothing: disposable protective equipment worn by clinical medical staff when they come into contact with Class A or infectious disease patients managed according to Class A infectious diseases. Protective clothing prevents medical staff from being infected, and is a single isolation.

Disposable surgical gowns: surgical gowns play a two-way protective role during surgery. First, surgical gowns establish a barrier between patients and medical staff, reducing the probability of medical staff contacting potential sources of infection such as patient blood or other body fluids during surgery; secondly, surgical gowns can block the spread of various bacteria colonized/adhered to the skin or clothing surface of medical staff to surgical patients, effectively avoiding cross-infection of multi-drug resistant bacteria such as methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE). Therefore, the barrier function of surgical gowns is considered the key to reducing the risk of infection during surgery.

Indications for wearing clothes

Disposable isolation gowns:

1. When in contact with patients with infectious diseases transmitted by contact, such as patients infected with multidrug-resistant bacteria.

2. When implementing protective isolation for patients, such as the diagnosis, treatment and nursing of patients with large-area burns and bone transplant patients.

3. When they may be splashed with blood, body fluids, secretions and excretions of patients.

4. Whether to wear isolation gowns when entering key departments such as ICU, NICU, protective wards, etc. should be determined by the purpose of entry of medical staff and the contact with patients.

Disposable protective clothing:

1. When in contact with patients with Class A or managed according to Class A infectious diseases.

2. When in contact with patients suspected or confirmed of SARS, Ebola, MERS, H7N9 avian influenza, etc., the latest infection control guidelines should be followed.

Disposable surgical gowns:

Used for invasive treatment of patients in special operating rooms after strict disinfection.

Appearance and material requirements

Disposable isolation gowns: Disposable isolation gowns are usually made of non-woven fabrics or combined with materials with better impermeability such as plastic films. The use of various non-woven fiber joining technologies rather than the geometric interlocking of woven and knitted materials gives them integrity and toughness. Isolation gowns should be able to cover the torso and all clothes to form a physical barrier to the spread of microorganisms and other substances. It should have impermeability, wear resistance and tear resistance.

Disposable protective clothing: Protective clothing consists of a hooded top and pants. It can be divided into a one-piece structure and a two-piece structure. The trouser legs and cuffs are tightened, and the protection level of the protective clothing is higher than that of the isolation gown. Disposable is generally recommended. Protective clothing must have liquid barrier function (water resistance, moisture permeability, resistance to synthetic blood penetration, surface moisture resistance), flame retardant and antistatic properties, and requirements for breaking strength, elongation at break, filtration efficiency, etc.

Disposable surgical gowns: Surgical gowns should be impermeable, sterile, one-piece, and without a hat. Generally, the cuffs of surgical gowns are elastic, which is convenient for wearing and is conducive to wearing sterile gloves. It is not only used to protect medical staff from contamination by infectious substances, but also to protect the sterility of surgical exposed parts.

Summary

In terms of appearance, protective clothing is easy to distinguish from isolation clothing and surgical gowns. Surgical gowns and isolation gowns are not easy to distinguish. They can be distinguished by the length of the belt (the belt of the isolation gown should be tied to the front for easy removal. The belt of the surgical gown is tied at the back).

From the functional point of view, there are overlaps between the three. The requirements for disposable surgical gowns and protective gowns are significantly higher than those for disposable isolation gowns. In the case of common use of isolation gowns in clinical practice (such as contact isolation of multi-drug resistant bacteria), disposable surgical gowns and isolation gowns can be interchangeable, but where disposable surgical gowns must be used, they cannot be replaced by isolation gowns.

From the perspective of the donning and doffing process, there are several differences between isolation gowns and surgical gowns: (1) When putting on and taking off isolation gowns, pay attention to the clean surface to avoid contamination, while surgical gowns pay more attention to aseptic operation; (2) Isolation gowns can be done by one person, while surgical gowns must be assisted by an assistant; (3) Isolation gowns can be reused without contamination. Hang them in the corresponding area after use.Disposable protective clothing is commonly used in microbiology laboratories, negative pressure wards for infectious diseases, and during the spread of Ebola, avian influenza, MERS and other epidemics in clinical practice, so as to protect medical staff from pathogens. The use of all three is an important measure for hospitals to prevent and control the occurrence of infections, and plays an important role in protecting patients and medical workers.

Donning and doffing order

1. Isolation gown

How to wear isolation gown:

(1) Hold the collar with your right hand, put your left hand into the sleeve, and pull the collar up with your right hand to expose your left hand.

(2) Hold the collar with your left hand, put your right hand into the sleeve, expose your right hand, raise both hands and shake the sleeves up, taking care not to touch your face.

(3) Hold the collar with both hands and fasten the neck strap from the center of the collar along the edge to the back.

(4) Pull one side of the isolation gown (about 5 cm below the waist) forward gradually and pinch the edge. Pinch the other edge in the same way.

(5) Align the edges of the gown with both hands behind the back.

(6) Fold to one side, press the fold with one hand, and pull the belt to the fold at the back with the other hand.

(7) Cross the belt behind the back and go back to the front to fasten the belt.

How to take off the isolation gown:

(1) Untie the belt and tie a slipknot in front.

(2) Disinfect your hands.

(3) Untie the strap behind the neck.

(4) Hold the belt with both hands and pull the isolation gown down from the chest.

(5) Pinch the clean inside of the left collar with your right hand and take off the left sleeve.

(6) Hold the inside of the right collar with your left hand and pull down to take off the right sleeve. Turn the contaminated side of the isolation gown inwards, roll up the collar and the edge of the gown to the center, and place it in the designated container.

2. Protective clothing

How to wear protective clothing: For one-piece or two-piece protective clothing, the order should be to put on the lower garment first, then the upper garment, then the hat, and finally zip up.

How to take off protective clothing:

(1) Two-piece protective clothing:

1) Unzip the zipper first.

2) Pull up the hat to separate the head from the hat.

3) Take off the sleeves, take off the contaminated side inwards, and place it in the designated container.

4) Take off the lower garment from the top to the bottom with the contaminated side inwards, and roll it up. After taking it off, place it in the designated container.

(2) One-piece protective clothing:

1) Pull the zipper to the bottom first.

2) Pull up the hat to separate the head from the hat.

3) Take off the sleeves, take off the contaminated side inwards from the top to the bottom, and roll it up.

4) Take it off and put it in the designated container.

3. Surgical gown

How to wear surgical gown:

(1) Take out a sterile surgical gown from the opened sterile gown bag, identify the collar, lift the two corners of the collar with both hands, and shake the surgical gown in a spacious place in the operating room (no obstacles within 1.5 meters in front), and be careful not to face the outside of the surgical gown towards yourself.

(2) Throw the surgical gown into the air and quickly insert your hands into the sleeves.

(3) Raise your arms straight forward, and the circulating nurse will help pull the collar corners and tie them behind you, and extend your hands out of the cuffs.

(4) Lean forward, lift the belt, cross your hands, and let the circulating nurse take the belt from behind and tie it.

How to take off surgical gowns:

(1) After the aseptic surgery is completed, if another surgery is required, if the gloves are not torn, there is no need to wash your hands again. Just soak them in alcohol or benzalkonium bromide solution for 5 minutes. You can also use iodine or sterile king to wipe your hands and forearms, and then put on sterile surgical gowns and gloves.

(2) If the previous surgery was a contaminated surgery, you should wash your hands again before the next surgery, and then put on sterile surgical gowns and gloves.

(3)If there is only one surgery, the circulating nurse can help untie the belt, and then take off the surgical gown and gloves by yourself.

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